Sightings Report October 11

Probably the most common question we get while booking people in the office is “is there a better time of day to see whales?” The whales were all over this place today, and it really proved that it doesn’t matter what time you go. Check out last month’s blog post for a summary of when/why we do and don’t see whales.

I’m gonna tell you right now, we had a couple no whale trips today. I know! Heartbreaking! But, it wasn’t because we couldn’t find whales…let me break it down.

Matt was first out, at 9:30am. After a visit to Race Rocks, he spotted a humpback whale in the middle of Haro Strait. His highlight though was witnessing a rare moment of love between feuding sea lions. “Saw a couple of sea lions fighting over a piece of fish. Looked more like a kiss than a scrap”!

Next out was Bo at 10am. He also spotted a humpback, this time in the Strait of Juan de Fuca! His trip also included a trip to Race Rocks for harbour seals, Steller sea lions, California sea lions, and a single elephant seal.

Then came Marek at 11am. He had a great summary for me “Pretty crazy, beautiful humpbacks southwest of Race Rocks. Then heard the report of J’s at Otter point, went for it! Rough. Wet. Beautiful time with residents, then straight back.”

Ocean Magic II was out at 12:15pm, and we heard the report about the residents straight away. Jeff, Casey and I gunned it out west to catch up with the killer whales as they travelled west. We caught them in plenty of time for a great look. My passengers could hardly contain their excitement! Things were a little rough out there today, but adds to the experience with killer whales because they surface higher, exposing their eye patch and white chin.

Unfortunately Matt’s 2pm and Ocean Magic II’s 3:30 trip were deemed “no whale.” This however was not because we couldn’t find whales. We found a couple of humpbacks east of Race Rocks (the killer whales were now out of range), but by this time the waves were large enough that we could only see the blow of the whale, and not much of the body. We did get a few looks at the flukes, but we recognize that not all whale sightings are created equal. So we declared it “no whale” to give our passengers the opportunity to take advantage of our no whale stand by guarantee.

The rest of the wildlife was awesome though, and we did get a chance to catch up with Harry Otter, still chilling around Secretary Island! Lots of humpbacks around still and the wind should be a little calmer tomorrow. Come join us on an unforgettable Thanksgiving adventure!

By Jennifer Dickson

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